Message from the Director
The field of conflict resolution is a mix of the pragmatic and the idealistic. Practitioners are engaged in helping people make real improvements in how they handle problems. At the same time, students who are attracted to the field of conflict resolution tend to share a common desire to contribute to a fundamental shift in our social relations. We say it’s ok to want to change the world.
And what change do we promote? Our goal is to increase the competence with which people deal with disputes and decision-making. We want to develop the abilities of individuals, groups, and the world community at large, to use the information that is bound up within conflicts to improve the relationships that exhibit those conflicts. We want to participate in the progression of our democratic institutions towards more collaborative, joint problem-solving models.
The hard news is that people are not born knowing how to deal with conflict constructively. Bridging our differences peacefully is not an innate skill. We are inclined to resort to fighting at the drop of a hat, to feel threatened, angry, defensive, aggressive, self-righteous, scared, or competitive. The good news is that we can learn how to be more conflict-competent. That is fundamentally what this Masters program is about.
The program is housed in the School of Law. There is good reason for this. Many conflicts happen within the context of applicable law. The law, as a social structure, is intended to promote the fair and non-violent resolution of disputes. Legal recourse is one form of conflict resolution. As one option, it is an important right. As the only option, it is limiting and often inadequate. The Masters degree in Conflict and Dispute Resolution addresses the wider scope of non-adversarial dispute resolution options and the concepts and skills needed to implement those alternatives.
As I write this, one of the items on my to-do list is to prepare a one-hour presentation on conflict and its resolution to an undergraduate class. It will be an introduction only, by necessity. We face a similar challenge in covering the broad scope and depth of this inter-disciplinary subject within the two-year structure of the graduate program. This Masters degree provides a solid foundation in the theory and practice of conflict resolution. The educational experience is meant to be a beginning.
We welcome your interest in our program. I encourage you to contact me or visit if you would like to learn more than what you find on this site.
